"The Crow" is a spectacular movie in every way. It's one of the best action movies I've ever seen with great action and fighting sequences, great acting, great effects, and unlike many action movies, it has a great plot. It's one of the most exciting movies ever made. It's the movie that Brandon Lee got accidentally shot and killed in in real life. But as "The Crow" was his last movie, he couldn't have made a better movie to be his final role. I recommend "The Crow" to anybody who likes action movies at all. No matter what kind of action movie you like whether you like ones where there's a lot of fighting, ones with a great plot, special effects extravaganzas, or any other kind of action movie, I recommend "The Crow."


Beauty of the Beast   January 20, 2000
 9 out of 11 found this review helpful

This film is based on the classic graphic novel by James O'Barr. In short, for those of you who have not seen this film, it is one of the greatest ever made, certainly the finest of its kind.

It is a tale of man's two most powerful and ultimately destructive elements, the capacity for love and the need for revenge. The film is brilliant in its gothic, edgy portrait of a man searching for closure, yet striving to retain his humanity. Ultimately, the timeless conflict between the mind and the flesh.

It was directed by Alex Proyas, who is a relatively new director, yet the most promising in years. His eye for detail is complemented by his ability to meld grungy visuals with blistering action, and somehow create a curious beauty which shows in all of his pictures.

As a final note, the remarkable actor Brandon Lee, son of Bruce, died while finishing this film. Having lost a friend and companion, Proyas did not want to finish the movie. He did so only at the urging of Lee's family, and dedicated it to him.

I am not overstating this movie's sheer brilliance and quality when I tell you that it single-handedly convinced me that a film could be a work of art. With all the hype and no substance coming out of Hollywood, these films are rare and truly gold mines.


A better title for this flick: The Turkey   February 25, 2000
 9 out of 31 found this review helpful

I had high hopes when I got this DVD. It had pretty good reviews and was shrouded in intrigue due to the unfortunate demise of the lead actor during its filming. But after watching The Crow, I'm convinced that Brandon Lee died from the sheer embarrassment of being associated with this melodramatic flapdoodle.

First, the concept is thin but workable: a fatally wronged man returns from the dead to wreak vengance on his killers. Clint Eastwood did this well in "High Plains Drifter." But that movie had mystery, conflict and examination of the souls of both the living and the dead. It probed.

Not so this film. Lee simply goes about killing miscreants in artful and condign ways until they're all dead. Sort of a "Halloween" from the persepctive of Jason. All of Lee's cardboard cut-out victims are too strung and atavistic to even believe they have human souls, much less ones worth examining before they are dispatched to Hell. Even the ringleader has as his crowning intellectual achievment the creation of a night devoted to arson. When that becomes passe', he reaches for new heights of criminality. His decision? A REALLY BIG fire. Man, why didn't I think of that? Pass me the bong...

Finally, not to speak ill of the dead, but Brandon Lee couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag. Half the time I thought I was watching the Joker from Batman menace drifters, though Jack Nicholson can menace pretty convincingly. Not Lee. If he hadn't been immortal/dead, he would have been slapped down by the first cranked-up junkie he rolled.

Skip this one, folks. Go buy/rent High Plains Drifter and watch a good revenge flick.


Fantastically better than previous versions.   April 21, 2001
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I just finished viewing the 2 DVD set of The Crow Collectors Edition. Everything about this set is better from the versions that were previously available to fans. The sound and picture are phenomenal, and the extras, like the extended footage feature, the behind-the-scene featurette, and the deleted scene montage is extra icing on this cake. However, the sad thing about this set, one that we have been waiting 7 years for already, is that the last interview given by Brandon Lee before his death WAS NOT included. I was quite saddened when I realized that this had not been included. Often imitated, never duplicated ... Brandon Lee was The Crow.

Two more things that were left out that could only have made this set better is a directors commentary, and most of the Skull Cowboy scenes that were deleted from the movie.

Who knows why movie companies do things the way they do. I guess we will have to wait for the next bigger and better release of The Crow on DVD to find out if they finally get it right. But for now, the Collectors Edition will do just fine.


"It can't rain all the time..."   September 3, 2003
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I'll be the first to admit that when this movie was released, I wasn't in a rush to see it. Needless to say, I ate my words.
I absolutely love this film!

"The Crow" tells the story of Eric Draven, a young rock star who's life is devoted to his art and his fiancee, Shelly Webster. When hoodlums brutally murder them both in their apartment on Halloween, Eric is resurrected and returns to avenge his and Shelly's murderers one by one. The Crow is born.
Yes, the movie is dark, gloomy and violent, but that doesn't take away from its substance. This movie has heart. It tells everyone that true love survives even in death.

Brandon Lee, forever remembered now for is accidental and ill-timed death while this film was in production, has never looked so beautiful. He plays this tortured soul so effortlessly but still adds a little humor to the somber mood. The action is great, the dialogue is great. In a nutshell, everything about this movie is great. You'd be missing out if you refused to see this.

As Eric Draven said..."It's not a good day to be a bad guy."